The Excise Department has sought support from the Revenue and Panchayat Department to curb the production, manufacturing and bottling of spurious liquor in Sonepat.
The Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (DETC) wrote a letter to the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO) to provide information about people in village areas involved in illicit business so that the Excise Department can initiate action against them. Sources in the Excise Department said the district was in a hyper-sensitive zone and several cases of illicit liquor trade were reported in previous years.
As many as 42 persons were killed in Sonepat while eight were killed after consuming hooch in 2020. The police had later unearthed the manufacturing unit which was run in Naina Tatarpur village of the district and arrested the accused.
Besides, the Kharkhoda area also came to limelight for liquor smuggling while some other cases of illegal liquor manufacturing units were also unearthed by the police and Excise Department.
The department has decided to tighten the noose over the illicit liquor manufacturing, bottling and production in the district especially in rural areas, said sources.
A senior official of the department said the department was reeling under staff crunch. And due to that, the information network was also not too strong, especially in village areas. To strengthen this network, the department has sought support from the Panchayat Department and revenue officials, including sarpanches, nambardars, panches, patwaris, kanungo and other field staff of the departments.
Neel Ratan, DETC, Sonepat, wrote a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, DDPO and all block development panchayat officers (BDPOs) – Gohana, Gannaur, Kathura, Mundlana, Rai, Kharkhoda, Sonepat — in the district to seek their support.
“The Excise Department has limited sources of information, especially in villages, that’s why letter has been written to district administration, police and panchayat departments to support in the control of illegal manufacturing, production and bottling of liquor,” said Ratan.
The above news was originally posted on news.google.com
